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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Dennis Lyon, CGCS, headed municipal golf in Aurora, Colorado for 37 years. Colorado Golf Association photo via Dennis Lyon Dennis Lyon, CGCS, played such an important role in Colorado's golf industry that a decade ago the state's golf association dubbed him its Superintendent of the Century.
    A former GCSAA president and superintendent and manager of golf for the city of Aurora for 37 years before he retired in 2010, Lyon (right) died Feb. 19. He was 76.
    Lyon's accomplishments in golf were many. He served as GCSAA president in 1989 and won the USGA Green Section Award in 2011. Just a few weeks ago, on Feb. 6, he received the Leo Feser Award at the annual GCSAA Conference and Show in San Diego. The award is presented annually to the author of the best superintendent-written article published in Golf Course Management magazine. While accepting the award, Lyon talked about how he enjoyed reaching out to provide feedback to fellow superintendents whose work appears in trade publications and was grateful for the support he received for his award-winning work in GCM that was a reflection on his three-plus decades as a superintendent.
    In 2013, he was the recipient of the GCSAA's Col. John Morley Award that is given each year to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of the golf course superintendent profession.
    During Lyon's 37-year career in Aurora, the city's golf portfolio grew from one to a high of seven (it currently manages five), and he was the host superintendent for the 2008 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship held at Murphy Creek Golf Course.
    On a local level, Lyon also was a former president of the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association and the Rocky Mountain Regional Turfgrass Association. In 2005, he was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame and in 2011 was the recipient of the association's lifetime achievement award. The Colorado Golf Association named him its Superintendent of the Century at its 2015 Century of Golf Gala.
  • For the past 20 years, Tom Hsieh has led efforts to restore the historic Gleneagles Golf Course at McLaren Park to some level of its former glory, and he has had to come up with some inventive ways to do it. Each year, it seems as if he has to come up with a new plan to keep things running.
    The nine-hole municipal course in San Francisco has defied the odds for survival so many times, thanks to the innovative ways Hsieh (right) has implemented to overcome the many challenges that such an operation encounters on an almost-daily basis, that Gleneagles appears to have more lives than a cat.
    "It's been difficult," Hsieh said. "And there is always uncertainty of what might happen."
    When Hsieh took over management of the golf course in 2005, he lacked the resources and support from the city to get it into shape that would attract golfers and keep them coming in the door, so he turned to some private clubs in the area to help out, and they did with equipment, programs, product and personnel.
    Like many places, Gleneagles has experienced the ups and downs of the post-pandemic world. The ups included heightened popularity and increased play. The downs include but are not limited to the challenges of finding enough help. Hsieh could not hire more help, at least not much more, even if it were available. The resources just are not there. Still, golfers have their demands, and they will go elsewhere if they do not believe they are getting enough value out of their $25 greens fees. 
    His solution now is to cross train employees so that anyone can help out almost anywhere in a pinch.
    "I'm grateful to have an excellent group of employees who care as much about Gleneagles as I do," Hsieh said.
    It was not always an all-hands-on-deck philosophy at Gleneagles.

    Keeping Gleneagles Golf Course at McLaren Park in San Francisco requires everyone at the facility to pitch in. Photo from Tom Hsieh Hsieh entered into an 18-year lease with the city in 2005. Today, he is in his third successive year of a year-by-year extension.
    "That makes it difficult for employees," he said. "It makes it difficult to make long-term plans. And it's difficult for the golfers who love to play Gleneagles."
    More than a decade ago, when he needed a long-term solution for on-course labor, Hsieh worked with the city to bring trainees in a union-backed apprenticeship program to work at Gleneagles. 
    That program paired the Laborers Community Training Foundation and Northern California District Council of Laborers, Local 261 with the golf course to teach career skills to residents of one of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods while providing the 62-acre Gleneagles with a pipeline to cost-effective labor. 
    The program was a favorite project of former San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. When Lee died in office in 2017, the apprenticeship program went with him.
    "When he died, that program no longer was a priority, and it needs support from the mayor's office," Hsieh said. "Ed Lee was a great friend to golf. He had a standing tee time at Harding Park every Saturday morning.
    "I would love to start that program again: The golf course gets labor while we help train people to go into the workforce. It would be a win-win."
    Then came the pandemic. Golf ran the spectrum of a banned vs. approved activity in California. Initially, nothing was allowed to open, and the Internet was rife with photos of families picnicking on fairways and greens and children turning bunkers into their personal sandbox as people looked to get outside.
    To keep the course afloat, Hsieh raised $35,000 through a Covid-era GoFundMe initiative.
    Eventually, golf became an approved outdoor activity, if not the only approved outdoor activity.

    San Francisco Bay looms in the background at Gleneagles Golf Course. Photo from Tom Hsieh People were not permitted to congregate almost anywhere except a golf course. But while the pandemic created opportunities for golf, it also created problems, namely in the way of labor issues. In response, many properties are learning and leaning more on high-tech advancements like drones, robotic mowers and other forms of autonomous equipment to help meet labor challenges without compromising turf quality.
    Gleneagles is not one of those places.
    No one is going to mistake Gleneagles for its municipal siblings Lincoln Park, Sharp Park, TPC Fleming Park, Golden Gate Park and TPC Harding Park, the site of the 2009 Presidents Cup and the PGA Championship in 2020.
    Here, innovation is limited to finding a way for a front-of-the-house employee to also help on the golf course.
    The Jack Fleming design opened with great fanfare in 1962 as the most expensive nine-hole course ever built. Fleming was an associate of Alister MacKenzie, who teamed with the latter on projects like Cypress Point in Pebble Beach and Sharp Park, another San Francisco municipal track. 
    That much-heralded opening was a long time ago, in more ways than one.
    By the 1980s, the course fell into a state of neglect and disrepair thanks to aging infrastructure and rising crime in the surrounding neighborhood on San Francisco's forgotten southeast side.
    Hsieh, a San Francisco native who has spent his career in and around local politics, took over managing and operating the course in 2005. Making a go of it has not been easy. San Francisco's recreation and parks department does not invest in the city's golf courses, and resources in the way of equipment, product and personnel never have been in abundant supply at Gleneagles at any point in the past two decades. 
    As a campaign advisor who also supports local civic projects like zoos, libraries and senior citizen initiatives through fundraising ventures, Hsieh knows what it takes to get things done. He has invested a lot of his own money in making upgrades to the course and other infrastructure on the property.
    He also invests a lot of brain power in finding new ways to tackle old problems. 
    Currently, the golf course maintenance staff consists of superintendent Ishmael Herrardo, who also is Gleneagles' mechanic, and a part-time greenkeeper.
    The bartender is also Gleneagles' starter and on his off days traps gophers on the golf course. He also mows greens when Herrardo is away.
    The course has suffered a lot of tree damage during the past two winters. Each event leaves debris scattered about the property and a total of 34 mature trees as old as 80 years or more, have been toppled by high winds (shown at right).
    "Everyone, and I mean everyone, myself included, have been pulling shifts on the golf course to get debris into a chipper, and limbs off the ninth green or off the roof of the building to get back open," Hsieh said. "That's what it takes to run Gleneagles. 
    "We cross-train as much as we can to make things work. It's not ideal, but it's working."
    Indeed it is.
    Gleneagles has enjoyed the same increased popularity and rise in play that have defined the post-pandemic industry. 
    "More people are discovering the magic of golf at Gleneagles than we saw at pre-pandemic levels. I've never seen as many women playing here as I have in the past five years," Hsieh said. "Play is up here by about 20 percent. We get wild compliments for our greens. The course looks amazing. It's the best it's been in decades. But it hasn't been easy."
  • As autonomous mowers continue to make inroads into the mainstream of golf turf maintenance, the makers of FireFly Automatix entered the market with a singular goal. According to a recent TurfNet interview, they sought to manufacture what they envisioned would be "the best fairway mower on the market."
    Recently, Firefly Automatix has made what it calls "a major update" to the autonomy software of its all-electric AMP (autonomous mowing platform) mowers. These updates, the company says, reflect a commitment from FireFly Automatix to listen and respond to users with continuous innovation designed to make their AMP mower experience more efficient and user-friendly.

    Firefly Automatix recently announced software updates based on user feedback. Smart Start
    The new Smart Start feature allows operators to drop off the AMP mower anywhere within the fairway. The mower autonomously finds its path starting point and begins mowing, significantly reducing manual driving time and streamlining operations.
    Fairway Mode
    With Fairway Mode, users can save specific mowing and operating boundaries, enabling the AMP mower to execute turns either in the rough or within the fairways. This feature can reduce the number of clean-up passes needed and provides added flexibility for each course.
    Keep-Out Zones
    The enhanced Keep-Out Zones feature empowers the AMP mower to safely navigate around obstacles in the fairways while preserving straight mowing lines and consistent striping. This capability improves efficiency and maintains the aesthetic quality of the turf.
    Refreshed User Interface
    The software update includes a refreshed user interface to enhance the operator experience. With an improved workflow and a more cohesive look and feel, the new interface makes controlling and managing the AMP mower more intuitive and efficient.
  • Erick Begitschke is involved in a host of research projects at the University of Georgia, where he is busy working toward a doctorate degree.
    His research includes, but is not limited to, work related to wear tolerance and the effects of weeds on turfgrass. As a result of his work, Begitschke (right) has been named the recipient of the Musser International Turfgrass Foundation 2025 Award of Excellence.
    The award is given to outstanding doctoral candidates who, in the final phase of their graduate studies, demonstrated overall excellence throughout their turfgrass research.
    Criteria on which candidates are judged include: 
    Graduate work. Academic record. Dissertation. Publications. Leadership. Extracurricular activities. "I am deeply humbled and honored to receive the Musser Award of Excellence," Begitschke said. "I greatly respect the previous winners and their remarkable contributions to the turfgrass industry. I will strive to uphold the legacy of this Award by continuing to serve the industry with pride throughout my career."
    Begitschke earned a bachelor's degree in turfgrass management from the University of Georgia, and master's degree in turfgrass weed science from Mississippi State University under Jay McCurdy, Ph.D. His research at Mississippi State focused on utilizing preemergent herbicides in hybrid Bermudagrass sod production. Between his graduate and post-graduate work he worked for SePRO Corp. as a research associate at its Rocky Mount, North Carolina research facility.
    He is currently finishing his doctoral work in crop and soil science with a concentration in turfgrass science from UGA under Gerald Henry, Ph.D. 
    As a graduate research assistant in Henry's lab, Begitschke's doctoral research is based on providing safe sports field playing surfaces that maximize athlete performance. This is accomplished through the use of wearable sensor technology that measures biomechanical movements to gauge the overall performance and safety of sports fields. The data will be used to evaluate how soil profile or surface canopy changes, such as excessive traffic/wear, weed pressure, soil moisture, etc., can alter the biomechanics of athletes and potentially lead to increased injury risk. His dissertation is titled "Evaluation of novel techniques to measure athletic field performance and player safety."
    An additional aspect of his research involves using plant physiological responses to wear to determine traffic thresholds. This methodology can be integrated into turfgrass breeding programs to select genotypes that exhibit wear/traffic tolerance. 
    His research also evaluates the physiological response of common turfgrass weeds to traffic and how weed presence influences athlete biomechanics to help justify the need for weed control, especially on lower-budget community-level athletic fields. 
    Begitschke has already published nine peer-reviewed research papers from his graduate and doctoral projects and has six more currently in draft or under review. He is an author of more than 30 scientific abstracts and has given approximately 40 research presentations nationally and internationally. He plans to dedicate his career to offering sustainable solutions to turfgrass managers through applied research.
    "This accomplishment would not have been possible without the unwavering love and support of my wife, Madison, and the invaluable guidance and patience of Drs. Gerald Henry and Jay McCurdy," said Begitschke. "I want to thank all of them for their encouragement and belief in me."
    To date, awards have been granted to doctoral students from universities including Arizona, Auburn, Cornell, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Michigan State, Rutgers, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech. 
    Named for former Penn State turfgrass breeder H. Burton Musser, the Musser International Turfgrass Foundation was organized for the following purposes:
    Promote and foster turfgrass as a learned profession. Recognize the name, teachings, and achievements of H.B. Musser, Professor Emeritus of Agronomy, a pioneer in the development, management and care of turfgrasses for recreation, commerce and aesthetic purposes, and to perpetuate these outstanding contributions with the H.B Musser Turfgrass Fellowship, thereby continuing his dedicated life to enhancing the lives of people all over the world through turfgrass. Initiate and maintain a fund, the proceeds from which will foster and support education and research in turfgrass development and turfgrass management.
  • Technology in the golf turf business is changing rapidly, and nowhere is that more evident than in the world of autonomous mowing.
    As grass-mowing robots continue to make inroads into the professional turf market, the differences go well below the surface.
    More than two years ago, Kress debuted its line of battery-operated autonomous mowers on the North American turf market when the company displayed its units at the 2022 Equip Expo in Louisville, Kentucky. The company has since upped its game as it focuses more on the golf market.
    Kress mowers are guided by Real Time Kinetics antennas that communicate with the units via 4G satellite-guided technology, have a range of 10 miles, extend over and around obstacles, and eliminate the need for underground wiring and beacons to keep units on track within 2-3 cm of accuracy.
    The technology is improving faster than many could have imagined.

    Kress mowers operate of a Real Time Kinetics antenna, each of which can command mowers within a 10-mile radius. Photo by John Reitman Former golf course superintendent Tim Barrier, CGCS, is such a believer he came aboard at Kress last year as the company's golf business manager.
    "If you had asked me four years ago, I would have said we were 10 years away," Barrier said during the GCSAA Conference and Show in San Diego. "The technology just wasn't there. The adoption is coming a lot faster now."
    A recent conference highlighting robotic technology, Barrier said, was attended by about 150 golf course superintendents.
    The 10-mile range means that using the RTK technology does not require an on-site antenna as long as there is another nearby. It also does not require licensing or subscription fees. 
    The RTK technology was developed for use by the U.S. Department of Defense and later was used by the agriculture industry before being adopted for use in turf, Barrier said.
    A network of antennas working together extends the range and strength. Barrier says a network of five antennas within range of each other cover the distance between Los Angeles and San Diego. A single antenna strategically placed in La Quinta is able to reach 70 golf courses in California's Coachella Valley.
    Height of cut can be adjusted for fairways or rough areas, and can be programmed to change automatically as the unit moves from one zone to another.
    Kress was founded in 1928 in Germany and has been a leader in the manufacturing of electric batteries for nearly a century. The company joined the Positec Group, a manufacturing company based in Suzhou, China that specializes in the production of power tools and lawn and garden equipment.
    There are many benefits to using autonomous mowers, Barrier said. They eliminate fossil fuel emissions, and at 46 pounds per unit, the mowers minimize the impact on turf and can be used in rain or wet conditions.
    As labor continues to be a challenge for superintendents, autonomous mowers can help free up human resources to focus time on more detailed work around the golf course.
    "Covid created more interest in the game, but it also created a labor shortage," Barrier said. "When employees don't show up, we can't get our work done.
    "That doesn't work for superintendents. We are control freaks. It's the way we're wired."
  • More than 11,000 people attended this year's GCSAA Conference and Show in San Diego. After years on a three-year rotation in San Diego, the show will not return to Southern California until 2029. Photo by John Reitman With the exception of two years during the height of the Covid pandemic, the GCSAA Conference and Show has been relatively consistent for the past eight years in its appeal to golf course superintendents.
    Attendance at this year's show, which was the last in San Diego for several years, was, according to the GCSAA, "more than 11,000," a number that has been the norm since the 2018 show in San Antonio. The only outlier in that time was 2022 in San Diego, when a Covid-plagued show drew 6,500 attendees. The 2021 show was held virtually due to the pandemic.
    Last year's Phoenix show attracted "nearly 11,000" and the 2023 show in Orlando drew "about 11,000."
    More than 6,700 educational seminar seats were filled this year, the most since the 2008 mega show in Orlando that also set records for attendance and number of vendors renting exhibit space.
    On the trade show floor, 464 vendors rented 154,100 square feet of exhibit space in what seemed (and felt) like a long and narrow San Diego Convention Center. That is down slightly from 470 exhibitors last year in Phoenix and up from 450 two years ago in Orlando.
    Awards bestowed during the week were:
    Col. John Morley Award — Pat Finlen, CGCS, executive vice president, Denehy Club Thinking Partners. President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship — Matt Gourlay, CGCS, MG, AGS, superintendent, Hillcrest Country Club, Boise, Idaho. Outstanding Contribution Award — Wendy Gelernter, Ph.D., and Larry Stowell, Ph.D., founders of PACE Turf. Old Tom Morris Award — Ozzie Smith, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals. Emerging Leader Award — Chad Allen, superintendent, The Club at Chatham Hills, Westfield, Indiana. Edwin Budding Award — Skip Heinz, CTEM, equipment and facilities manager, Royal Poinciana Golf Club, Naples, Florida. Next year's show is scheduled for Jan. 30-Feb. 5 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The 2027 show will return to New Orleans for the first time since 2009. Citing the cost of hotel accommodations and other costs of exhibiting on the West Coast, the show will not return to San Diego until 2029. Because the show has contracted in size during the past two decades, destinations such as Austin, Phoenix and Las Vegas, according to GCSAA, are under consideration for future dates.
  • The Canadian Golf Superintendents Association recently named Kathryn Wood as its chief executive officer. Woods' appointment, which is effective immediately, follows a year as interim CEO of the CGSA.
    Wood (at right) has worked with the association since 1998. Prior to stepping into the interim CEO position, she has served as the association's member services manager and director of professional development and events, and most recently was its chief operating officer.
    "Kathryn has proven herself to be an invaluable member of our staff with commitment to the CGSA's mission and values," said John McLinden, AGS, CGSA president. "Her extensive experience will undoubtedly steer the CGSA towards new heights and further bring the mission to the forefront of the Canadian golf industry."
    Wood's appointment as CEO marks a new chapter for the CGSA. Under her leadership, the association looks forward to expanding its programs and initiatives, enhancing member engagement, and promoting the sustainable management of golf course environments.
    "I am deeply honoured and excited to take on the role of CEO," Wood said. "The CGSA has been a significant part of my professional journey, and I am committed to driving our mission forward, supporting our members, and championing the work of golf superintendents nationwide."
  • Two years ago, the U.S. Golf Association sent a buzz through the golf turf maintenance world when it launched the GS3 smart golf ball that measures metrics like green speed as well as surface firmness, trueness and smoothness.
    The game's governing body made another splash at this year's GCSAA Conference and Show when it launched the USGA Moisture Meter. 
    Available with 1.5-inch or 3-inch tines and powered through a USB charger, the tool provides golf course superintendents with precise and consistent data that includes soil moisture, salinity and temperature. The data instantly uploads into the USGA's Deacon technology platform through the user's mobile phone that attaches to the monitor, creating a digital record that can be used to help superintendents manage water usage while also maximizing plant health and playability.
    Constructed from aluminum, the device is impact resistant, yet lightweight for ease of use.
    The monitor, demonstrated (at right) by Jeff Kinney of the USGA at the GCSAA Conference and Show, is part of the association's sustainability efforts, announced in 2023, to invest $30 million over a 15-year span to help superintendents reduce water usage on golf courses.
    The soil moisture sensors in the monitor are manufactured by Meter Group, a leading technology provider of soil-plant atmospheric data for the agriculture market for the past three decades.
    Benefits of the USGA Moisture Meter are:
    Improved course consistency: By providing accurate and real-time soil moisture data, the USGA Moisture Meter empowers superintendents to make data-driven decisions, resulting in more consistent playing surfaces throughout the season. Proprietary technology: CDX technology from Meter Group provides precise and consistent soil moisture, salinity and temperature readings. Increased efficiency: The tool streamlines the data-collection process, allowing superintendents to focus on other critical tasks. Enhanced decision-making: The integration with Deacon provides a comprehensive view of course conditions, providing superintendents with the information needed to provide what is needed precisely where it is needed. The Deacon app is a digital platform launched by the USGA in 2021 to provide superintendents with the tools to make decisions to manage turf more efficiently and improve the golfer experience. Superintendents can input data into Deacon, which tracks putting green surface management via the GS3 smart golf ball, creates pace-of-play reports, provides hole-location options and provides weather insights. 
    At the GCSAA Show in San Diego, the USGA also launched the next generation of its Deacon system — Deacon Release 23. Upgrades include an overhaul of the user experience that makes it easier for superintendents to integrate data and find information faster.
    Upgrades in Deach R23 are:
    Enhanced navigation: A reimagined interface that simplifies workflows, making it easier to access the platform's tools. Better reporting tools: More intuitive reporting functionality on both web and mobile platforms. Faster testing time: Simplified GS3 smart golf ball tests and new USGA Moisture Meter readings on mobile, providing real-time data to support decision-making. Improved application logs: Streamlined tracking of applications and nutrient management. Advanced jobs and reporting: Improved tools for monitoring and recording job activities. The USGA says proceeds from the USGA Moisture Meter will be directly re-invested into the association's efforts to meet its 15-year sustainability and water-use goals.
  • Fourteenth century poet Geoffrey Chaucer is credited with coining some version of the phrase "all good things must come to an end."
    For the past five years, the number of golfers in the game and rounds played have steadily increased, but an underlying question is how long this Covid-fueled resurgence will last.
    That was a topic for discussion during the annual state of the golf industry report presented jointly by Pellucid Golf and Edgehill Golf Advisors during the recent PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.
    "Cycles go up and down," said Pellucid founder Jim Koppenhaver. 
    None of the key indicators are going down, at least not yet. Among the takeaways from last year are a 3 percent increase in the number of golfers, most of whom are women, and a record number of rounds played.
    Continued growth in the number of golfers playing the game and the rounds they are playing was a little unexpected, said Koppenhaver, because there is no real concerted effort to grow the game on a national level, and no one really knows what is driving the increase in interest.
    "We're seeing growth continue, and it surprises me," Koppenhaver said. "It's not going to last forever."
    The report contradicts what golfers and non-golfers alike say are the most common barriers to playing the game: It's too difficult, it takes too long to play and it is expensive. 
    "I can tell you that's not true," Koppenhaver said of the supposed barriers to the game. "Because we didn't break any of those."
    Indeed, the game is still as hard as ever, still takes too long to play and green fees and the price of clubs and balls continue to go up, not down.

    A total of 23.4 million golfers played a record-high 532 million rounds in 2024, according to the annual state of the industry report. According to the report, there were 23.4 million golfers in the market last year. Those figures include 4.3 million players who left the game, a number that was offset by a gain of 4.9 million new players, for a net gain of 600,000 new golfers, 400,000 of whom are women. 
    The market retained a total of 18.5 million players. Retaining more of the 4.3 million who walked away should be a focus of owners and operators. Koppenhaver believes tools to help people play better is a key to retention..
    "Player development is important," he said. "If people get better faster, they will play more and stick with the game."
    According to the report, a record 532 million rounds were played in 2024, which, Koppenhaver said, is 10 percent above the supply-demand equilibrium and the first time the 530 million round mark was eclipsed. Koppenhaver defines supply-demand equilibrium as an average of about 40,000 rounds per 18-hole equivalent. 
    The report also revealed a net loss of 50 more golf courses (EHE) last year. A total of 25 new courses went into the ground while 75 closed. 
    The supply of golf courses nationwide has been contracting every year since 2006, and has reached a net loss of 2,115 properties (EHE) in the past 19 years, dropping from 14,848 18-hole equivalents in 2006 to 12,733 last year. 
    The 530-million-plus rounds level of play could support adding another 1,000 golf courses (in 18-hole equivalents), Koppenhaver said.
    "You can't find the land at the right price," Koppenhaver said, "to put in the right facility."
    Not surprisingly, the greatest gains in attracting and retaining golfers were among those in the $75,000-and-up age group. Perhaps the best news coming out of the report was that the game made significant increases among younger players. Those in the 7-17 and 18-34 age groups accounted for the largest gains, with the golfer population in both segments growing by 10 percent. There was a 3.4 percent gain in those ages 35-54. The number of golfers in the 55-64 and 65 and up age groups, which traditionally have carried the game, were down by 7 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
    "We don't need big ideas. Simple stuff will do," Koppenhaver said. "Just get a club in someone's hands."
  • HineCraft LLC, maker of the TurfTrainer, has created a reputation of being a family business in more ways than one. 
    Since HineCraft was founded, a team of five has been running the show; Rodney Hine, president and golf course superintendent, and Caroline Hine, vice president, have been supported by their three children, Cassie, Wesley and William.
    Five years ago, the young trio worked the company's booth at the 2019 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show here in San Diego, and this year, two of the three are returning to the show again in Southern California.
    As part of the HineCraft team, Cassie, Wesley and William have supported the business in a variety of departments. The trio have worked as the sales team at the 2018 and 2019 GCSAA conventions as well as a few regional conventions in the U.S. and the UK's BTME convention.

    From left, Caroline, Cassie and William Hine each play a key role in the family business started by superintendent, husband and dad Rodney Hine. Photo by John Reitman Off the floor, Cassie, who majors in visual media studies and production at Emerson College in Boston, focuses primarily on marketing and media production for the TurfTrainer. 
    "Having grown up and worked in the golf world, I have gained experience that has helped me refine and produce media and communications that are specific to this industry," Cassie said. "HineCraft has given me a platform to build a repertoire of skills and a portfolio, while supporting a business that is so important to me."
    Wesley, now a first-year cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy, has focused on prototyping and testing. 
    "Working as a part of TurfTrainer has taught me the complexities and dedication of bringing a product to market, and how to make that business succeed," Wesley said.
    William, a rising business and marketing student at his high school, is integral for the sales team as well as in production and shipping.
    "TurfTrainer has had a major, positive impact on me by giving me real world experience in business," William said. "Be it marketing our product at conventions, or learning how to build it, I have been able to broaden my knowledge of how a business is run. The family business has helped me discover my love for business and I continue to pursue that love in school and in clubs like DECA."
    Invented and patented by Rodney Hine in 2018, the TurfTrainer is a unique, easy-to-use and budget-friendly turf-brushing system, designed to improve turf playability, performance and health.
    For more information, visit the company's web site , or drop by booth #5411 in San Diego.
  • Unknown to many prior to the Black Desert Championship PGA event in October when four blue autonomous fairway mowers silently groomed the fairways, the engineers at FireFly Automatix have quietly challenged and in many cases discarded the traditional conventions of fairway mower and cutting unit design.
    FireFly Automatix dates to 2008 when co-founder Steve Aposhian and a small group of fellow mechanical engineers decided to fabricate replacement parts for the sod harvesters used on Aposhian’s family’s turf farm in Salt Lake City. The parts were of such high quality that they began selling them to other sod farms, some of which encouraged them to build their own complete harvesters.
    In 2011, Aposhian and his engineer buddies quit their day jobs and jumped into manufacturing of sod harvesters, but not the same-old-same-old.
    "We were the first to implement a lot of electric technology on a piece of mobile equipment like this," said Aposhian in a recent TurfNet podcast interview with Dave Wilber and Peter McCormick. "Traditional machines used hydraulics and traditional control mechanisms. My background as a mechanical engineer is in automation, so we implemented a lot of factory-type automation on a sod harvester. Since then we've become the largest producer of automated turf harvesters in the world."

    The Black Desert Championship launched the AMP L-100 into the industry limelight. Mark LeBlanc started with FireFly Automatix six years ago, doing mechanical design on those sod harvesters.
    "Sod being an adjacent industry to golf, and knowing that a lot of our customers provide sod to to golf courses, we always envisioned ourselves expanding into that market," LeBlanc said in the podcast interview. "After a couple years Steve gave me a team and a blank board and said, go design an automated fairway mower."
    LeBlanc's design team started by looking at what was out there in autonomous mowers at the time, and of course there was nothing other than early prototypes.
    "We wanted to make an autonomous mower, but we didn't want to just make a fairway mower that's autonomous," LeBlanc said. "We decided to make the best fairway mower on the market from the standpoints of cut quality, drive system, and operational efficiency. Let's just make it as good as we can make it, and incorporate autonomous technology in the process."

    Eliminating a combustion engine and operator station opened up design freedom for FireFly Automatix engineers. LeBlanc and his team started with a blank sheet of paper and redesigned a mower platform without a conventional combustion engine and operator station.
    "When we took those two pretty big design constraints out of the equation, we realized that to make the best mower on the market for fairways, it would have to be electric. Designing it from the ground up to be autonomous gave us the design freedom to go back whenever we needed to and change the way things worked mechanically and electrically to better support the autonomy," he said.
    Within three months they had a working prototype, but that was just the beginning. After mowing with it manually for a few months, they made it autonomous using software that they had developed for a previous, larger mower.
    "We went back to the drawing board, erased the whole thing and started over. We took everything we didn't like about the first prototype and designed another one, and then we did that three more times. So, here we are."
    Drive and control systems are one thing, but golf course superintendents want to know about the cutting units, where the mower meets the grass.
    "The big mower companies have done a lot of homework for us," LeBlanc quipped." We didn't ignore all of the great things that they've done in the world of cutting units. But we saw some things that we thought that we could improve on. So we took a stab at designing one ourselves that that could make the the job of the mechanic easier, that could make the the job of the superintendent easier, and that that could make the course look better."

    Simple knob HOC adjustment and locking down the bedknife and adjusting the reel to it simplify life for the mechanic and superintendent. LeBlanc and his team developed a simple hand knob adjustment where height of cut can be standardized across all cutting units in 45 seconds.
    "We know that because our parts are designed and machined in a certain way that if we make the same number of clicks on both sides of the cutting unit to adjust that height, the cutting unit is still square," LeBlanc said.
    Geometry of the bedknife within the cutting unit also came under scrutiny. The FireFly design locks the bedknife down and adjusts the reel to it, again with a hand knob and .00065" adjustment per click.
    "We designed our cutting unit to lock the bedknife down in a really rigid way to make sure that bedknife never moves. And it's always square, and it's always as flat as possible, and there's no flex in that system," LeBlanc said. "We have gotten feedback from our customers that the bedknives hold their adjustment a lot longer and don't have to be adjusted as often."
    Even with a current price tag of $160,000, the operational efficiencies of the AMP L-100 contribute to an ROI as low as two years or even lower in some cases. Efficiencies in capital expenditure, maintenance costs, energy and labor costs all contribute.
    What's the lead time for one ordered today? "About 60 days," said Steve Aposhian.
    Watch or listen to the complete conversation here or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
  • The golf business is alive and well in northern Michigan.
    Forest Dunes, a three-course resort near Roscommon, recently announced plans to add a fourth course to its lineup. 
    The architectural team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner have been hired to design SkyFall at Forest Dunes. Unlike the other three courses at the resort in the Huron National Forest, SkyFall will be a private club with limited resort guest play.
    SkyFall will be the first project in Michigan for Hanse and Wagner, who also designed the highly regarded Black Course at Streamsong Resort near Bowling Green, Florida. Both facilities are owned by Rich Mack and Tom Sunnarborg.
    "The opportunity to have Gil and Jim craft their first original design in Michigan on what is the most compelling property at Forest Dunes is really exciting," Mack said in a news release. "I'm also pleased that we will work with Gil and Jim a second time in our career and create something really special here in Michigan."

    Rich Mack and Tom Sunnarborg, left to right, own the Forest Dunes resort in Michigan and Streamsong in Florida. The duo has hired Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner to design the private SkyFall course at Forest Dunes. Forest Dunes photo Other 18-hole courses at Forest Dunes are the property's namesake course designed by Tom Weiskopf and The Loop – a reversible Tom Doak layout. Both courses regularly show up on the various Top 100 lists of Best Courses You Can Play. The resort's Bootlegger layout is a 10-hole par-3 course designed by Riley Johns and Keith Rhebb. The Hilltop is Forest Dunes' 18-hole putting course.
    The project is a homecoming of sorts for Hanse, whose early experience includes working for Tom Doak at High Pointe Golf Club 70 miles away in Traverse City.
    The new course will be routed through 300 acres of forest adjacent to the resort's  other three courses and will feature elevation changes of up to 70 feet.
    "Gil and Jim are two of the most influential golf course architects of our era and are entrusted to advance projects of golf significance across the globe," Sunnarborg said. "We know they will find the best of the land to work with and turn it into something unforgettable that members and guests are going to thoroughly enjoy, hopefully many times."
    Construction on SkyFall is expected to begin later this year or in early 2026.
  • For nearly a half-century, Tamas "Tom" Tanto was a fixture in the golf course maintenance business.
    A native of Kormend, Hungary, Tanto (right) was a golf course builder and the founder of Tanto Irrigation, the namesake firm that specializes in golf course irrigation design and installation and course construction. He died Jan. 25 in Fort Myers, Florida at age 86.
    Tanto emigrated to the United States in 1957 as an 18-year-old in the aftermath of World War II, learned English and later served in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. 
    "I hardly spoke a word of English, and I knew I would have to work hard to make it," Tanto told the GCSAA in 2019 when he was named the recipient of the association's Col. John Morley Award. "I got a job washing dishes, and I have had a job every day since."
    In 1967, he earned a degree in civil Engineering from the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. While working for the Dravo Corp., a shipbuilder that had operations in Pittsburgh and Wilmington, Delaware, he became interested in golf and in 1969 built a municipal golf course on land owned by the family of his wife, Susan. Soon after, he borrowed $5,000 and set about the task of organizing the construction and irrigation company that bears his name and has served the golf industry for more than 50 years.

    A native of Hungary, Tamas Tanto was the founder of the golf course irrigation design and installation firm that continues to bear his name. Tanto Irrigation photo His work and that of his company could be found on dozens of the country's top 100 golf courses, including Oakmont, Baltusrol and The Country Club. Even after retiring and selling the company he founded, Tanto remained active serving as an industry mentor.
    Tanto's experience serving the golf industry cut a wide swath. He also was involved in Turf Care Products, an Atlanta-area Toro distributor that eventually came under the Jerry Pate Turf and Irrigation umbrella.
    Tanto received many honors and awards throughout his career. In 2013, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus by the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. The American Association of Irrigation Consultants named him the recipient of the 2019 Roy Williams Memorial Award. That same year, he shared the GCSAA's Col. John Morley Award with legendary superintendent and golf course owner Ted Horton, CGCS.
    A quote from Tanto on the company website reads: "How can you not feel good about being part of something that you believe in and that continues to represent the solid values upon which it was founded. I love going to work every day and enjoy those with whom I am associated both within the organization and the golf industry itself."
    Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Susan; son Dan (Karen); daughter Anne Gamble (Mark); sisters Eva Czéh and Zsuzsa Tanto Németh, both of Hungary; and many grandchildren, nieces, nephews who live around the globe.
  • Envu is unveiling several initiatives at this year's GCSAA Conference and Show in its efforts to help superintendents produce healthier turf.
    Aside from new product offerings at its booth (No. 2637), Envu will offer virtual tours, a chance to win on-site expert advice and the opportunity to enter for a chance to win a goose-chasing dog. The show is scheduled for Feb. 5-6 in San Diego.
    Envu's Green Solutions Team will be on hand to help superintendents find plant-health solutions for their respective golf courses. Superintendents visiting the Envu booth can register for a chance to have one of those GST members conduct a site-visit for an in-depth analysis report and a personalized solutions plan for the winner.

    Visitors to the Envu booth at the GCSAA Conference and Show will have a chance to enter to win a goose dog from Fly Away Geese, a North Carolina company that offers humane solutions to controlling many types of birds in a variety of environments. Fly Away Geese photo Visitors to the Envu booth also can take a virtual tour of the company's facilities in North Carolina. That includes an inside look at Envu's product-development process at its facility in Morrisville and how products then go through testing at the research facility in Clayton that includes 10.5 acres of warm- and cool-season turf research plots, an 18-acre research golf course and a 1-acre putting green built to USGA specifications.
    Envu also is sponsoring a dog giveaway at the show in conjunction with Fly Away Geese. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Fly Away Geese trains and provides goose-chasing border collies to golf courses, airports, businesses, corporations and military installations for humane and effective solutions to manage many types of birds, such as geese, ducks, seagulls, cormorants, coots and wading birds.
    Envu launched in October 2022 out of the acquisition of Bayer Environmental Science by London-based private equity firm Cinven, and is a provider of chemical solutions for the professional turf market. In November, Envu (short for Environmental Science U.S.) finalized the acquisition of FMC's Global Specialty Solutions division of FMC that includes its golf turf business.
    The company will introduce new additions to its portfolio at the show, including its lineup of products formerly under the FMC label.
  • Bunker performance is only as good as the sand that goes into it. But all sand is not created equally. 
    The wrong sand, or degraded sand can lead to a host of issues in golf course bunker performance. For superintendents who want help, or at least confirmation, in choosing the right sand for any of a variety of golf course projects, Capillary Flow recently launched an AI tool that helps remove the guesswork from the selection process.
    Capillary Flow's AI Sand Agent deciphers sand analysis reports, generates easy-to-read gradation curves and compares them to industry standards in a matter of seconds to help superintendents choose a product that meets the specific needs of any project.

    Capillary Flow's AI Sand Agent deciphers sand analysis reports to help make sand selection easier for superintendents. Capillary Flow photo Factors such as particle hardness and shape, composition and color greatly influence sand performance, stability and drainage. Sand analysis reports that quantify these factors come in many versions: metric or imperial, in passing particles or retained particles. This language can be difficult to evaluate. The Capillary Flow tool allows users to see the gradation curve, which makes it easier to compare a product to industry standards and other sands during the selection process.
    The USGA guidelines for particle size distribution can be plotted on a curve that illustrates how any given sand compares to the range recommended, and therefore show the sand’s ability to drain or hold moisture.
    Users can upload numbers manually, or drag and drop an analysis report into the calculator. In a matter of seconds, the calculator generates data to help superintendents make the correct sand choice.

    The Capillary Flow tool compares specific sands to recognized industry standards. Bunker performance hinges on precise sand management, with moisture content playing a pivotal role in playability and maintenance. Although USGA guidelines provide a framework for selecting and installing sand, maintaining its quality over time remains a significant challenge. 
    Sand performance declines over time due to the following factors:
    Sand movement within the bunker Contamination Natural degradation Degraded sand or the wrong sand can lead to a host of performance issues:
    Wet floors Inconsistent moisture Layering within the bunker sand column Discoloration Poor playability Player dissatisfaction Increased maintenance costs The tool stores previous analysis results for future reference and comparison.
    Capillary Flow offers a variety of products and services and moisture-management solutions for a variety of markets including golf, athletic fields, equestrian facilities and public areas.
  • Mach 1 ultradwarf Bermudagrass on a green at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, North Carolina. Modern Turf photo Modern Turf recently named Jamey Jackson as regional director of sales. Based in LaGrange, Georgia, Jackson (below) is responsible for sales initiatives and supporting clients in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
    Based in Rembert, South Carolina, Modern Turf specializes in cultivating and planting a diverse range of grass types for the golf, sports turf and landscaping sectors. The company was founded by a group of former superintendents with experience ranging across the United States and Puerto Rico, The Bahamas and Bermuda. 
    The company also offers other products, including compost materials, mulch, soil, sand, stone and gravel for the professional and residential markets.
    "His proven sales expertise will undoubtedly strengthen our efforts and expand our reach across the South," said Hank Kerfoot, president of Modern Turf. "More importantly, Jamey’s good nature and unwavering professionalism perfectly align with the values that have made Modern Turf a respected name in the turf industry. We are certain his enthusiasm for golf and willingness to listen and provide customized solutions will benefit our customers."
    Jackson, who will join the Modern Turf team in San Diego at the GCSAA Conference and Show (booth #2510) built a career in talent acquisition, placing superintendents and general managers in employment opportunities.
    Among the products to be highlighted in the Modern Turf booth is Mach 1 ultradwarf Bermudagrass that boasts finer and shorter leaf blades and dense texture bentgrass-like putting conditions.

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